Steel City Pops set to open this weekend in downtown Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA | A new shop set to open this weekend on University Boulevard in downtown Tuscaloosa promises to pair gourmet taste with popsicles.

By Ashley ChaffinStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | A new shop set to open this weekend on University Boulevard in downtown Tuscaloosa promises to pair gourmet taste with popsicles.Jim Watkins, owner and founder of Steel City Pops, said his popsicles aren't just trendy — they are a healthier version of a treat that customers already love. “I think it's something that's repurposed or reinvented,” he said. “Maybe it's now taking on the sensibility of today's eater — something healthier, something more locally sourced and something where you can pronounce all the ingredients.”Steel City Pops opened its first location in May 2012. It operates two store-front locations in Birmingham and its products are also sold at various events, such as the Pepper Place Farmers Market. Steel City Pops is part of a recent mini-wave of Birmingham businesses that have opened Tuscaloosa-area locations.Billy's Bar and Grill, which has locations in Birmingham's Liberty Park and Mountain Brook's English Village, opened in Northport early this year, and Edgar's Bakery, with four Birmingham locations, recently opened in the Galleria of Tuscaloosa. Steel City Pops is next door to nationwide sandwich shop Which Wich, which opened in early 2013 and near Jim ‘N Nicks, which has locations in seven states and opened around the corner on 21st Avenue in May 2012. Watkins said the diversity of the area is what drew him to open a shop in Tuscaloosa. “It's not a huge town and that appeals to me,” Watkins said. “People know that we're here. They know that when the shop opens, a store has opened up. You don't get that in places like Atlanta or Dallas.”Steel City Pops offers two types of pops — creamy and fruity. Fruit-based pop flavors include blood orange, sweet tea and strawberry. The dairy-based creamy pops offer flavors such as chocolate, coffee and maple bacon bourbon. As the availability of produce changes, so do the flavors offered. “We change our flavors monthly,” Watkins said. “If something goes out of season, we replace it with something fresh. If we're at the market and something catches our eye that we've never made a pop of before, we'll play around with it.”They try to keep the pops as simple as possible. For example, he said the strawberry pops are 90 percent strawberries plus a little bit of citrus and simple syrup. “A strawberry pop would have, at the most, a teaspoon and a half of sugar,” he said. “That's less than a glass of sweet tea.”Pops come individually wrapped and cost $2.75 for a single pop or $10 for a pack of four.